Missouri children as young as age 10 are allowed to use tanning beds, which could increase their risk for skin cancer. The problem sheds light on the lack of tanning salon regulation nationwide, according to a recent study.
Nearly two-thirds of 243 Missouri tanning salons had no restrictions on 10- to 12-year-olds using tanning beds, according to the study, published online Feb. 25 in Pediatrics.
Missouri is one of 17 states without an indoor tanning law, said Brundha Balaraman, MD, a study author and resident physician at the Washington University School of Medicine’s Division of Dermatology.
It can take up to 10 years for a person to develop skin cancer but most of the damage occurs during youth, she said. Women are at greater risk because they tend to tan more than men do, she said.
The American Cancer Society predicted that more than 76,000 new melanoma cases would be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2012, the study said.
“The younger you start, the more damage you accrue,” Balaraman told The Nation’s Health. “There are a lot of studies that show that tanning can be addictive, like smoking or alcohol. You get that habit and that positive feedback of going to a tanning bed.”
For three months in 2007, researchers posed as customers and called Missouri salons asking questions such as “How long can I tan?” Balaraman said. They found employees at 43 percent of the salons who responded said there were no risks to tanning, she said.
Seventy-eight percent of employees did not require an assessment of a potential customer’s skin to see if she or he was safe to tan, the study said. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends asking questions such as if a potential customer is on acne medication, such as Accutane, or have disorders such as lupus, which could lead to health complications, she said.
“It’s scary,” Balaraman said. “There’s 30 years of research about ultraviolet radiation. It’s very misleading to people who aren’t educated in health sciences and medical fields.”
The World Health Organization recommends anyone younger than 18 should not use a tanning bed and FDA recommends the use of goggles, Balaraman said. However, because tanning beds are considered a “class I medical device” by FDA standards, they are regulated less, Balaraman said.
As of March 2012, only 33 states had some type of regulatory law regarding tanning bed use, such as age restriction. California became the first in the United States to ban anyone younger than 18 from using tanning beds in 2011.
For more information about the study, visit http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/3/415.full.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
